Cable terminal elements serve to connect power and/or data transmission terminals of electrical equipment to the individual conductors of an electric cable in a detachable and electrically conducting manner.
Commercially available cable terminal elements of this kind are usually provided with screw terminals, into which the individual conductors of an electric cable must be inserted and clamped sequentially, as described in German patent document Ser. No. 2,448,111 (DE-AS No. 24 48 111). Especially in control cables with a small conductor cross section, such a connection operation is laborious and time-consuming. For this reason, so-called spring-force terminals have been introduced into commercial use, such terminals, however, being only qualifiedly suitable for control cables with flexible litz conductors. Screw terminals have also been replaced by so-called knife terminals, which have at their ends flanges with slots or notches into which individual cable conductors are pushed and clamped, which procedure is possible because of the elasticity of the conductor material. Although the labor expended in turning the clamping screws at every single terminal is elminated by using knife terminals, it is still necessary to introduce under pressure each individual conductor into a flange notch of a respective knife terminal. Because the forcing of the cable conductors into the knife terminal notches must be carried out uniformly, from both sides, special skill or a special tool is required, particularly in cables with a small conductor cross section.